her home in Ventura County, California, and jailed for five days based on WPI's allegations that she stole laboratory notebooks, a computer, and other material. She was held temporarily pursuant to that case, and her lawyer said the charges had no merit. By November 28, after negotiations with the WPI, some lab notes were returned. Later, the criminal charges brought against Mikovits in Washoe County, Nevada, were dismissed by the District Attorney and Assistant District Attorney in Reno, Nevada. The Washington Post later reported that the Whittemore family's legal troubles prevented the Washoe County from pursuing the case. Mikovits and collaborators participated, with two other research groups, in a larger 2012 study with 147 CFS patients and 146 controls. The study concluded that there was no evidence of XMRV or MLV infection in either group, a result that Mikovits said was "the definitive answer" on the issue. Anti-vaccination activism and conspiracy theories Mikovits has become a champion for believers in medical conspiracy theories, basing claims linking the XMRV to autism and cancer on other retracted papers, and claiming she had been jailed by the influence of the deep state and Big Pharma. This final claim refers to her arrest in 2011 for allegedly stealing research materials from WPI. Mikovits has spoken at anti-vaccination events. She has claimed that retroviruses have contaminated 30 percent of vaccines. Mikovits has received criticism from scientists for stating that XMRV is a communicable infection which is "clearly circulating through the population, as is our fear and your fear". Virologist Vincent Racaniello said that Mikovits's assertion "is just inciting fear". Mikovits showed slides at a conference linking XMRV to Parkinson's disease, autism, and multiple sclerosis. However, there is no published evidence that XMRV is associated with these diseases. COVID-19 conspiracy theories Mikovits gained attention on social media for promoting her ideas about the COVID-19 pandemic. She does not believe that a vaccine is needed to prevent COVID-19, and claims that the coronavirus was "caused by a bad strain of flu vaccine that was circulating between 2013 and 2015". She also claimed masks will “activate” the virus and reinfect a mask-wearer over and over. One such circulating video gained notoriety in May 2020. Titled Plandemic: The Hidden Agenda Behind Covid-19, this film is a half-hour long documentary-styled interview of Mikovits's views on a variety of subjects. YouTube removed this video from its website a number of times,